Max Verstappen and his team are ready for race day at the Portimao circuit. Follow the session with GPblog's liveblog here!
After completing a Formula 1 tripleheader over the past weekend, Verstappen stays busy and competes for his own team in the GT World Challenge Europe's final weekend in Portugal. The Dutchman is joined by the team's regular driver, Chris Lulham, and Ben Barnicoat this weekend, as simultaneously, there is a World Endurance Championship round taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Verstappen Racing will start in 15th position, as the #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche secured pole position with an average lap time of 1:42.071, ahead of the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG and the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche. Ford and Ferrari completed the top five.
Verstappen Racing seeks to overcome Portimao disappointment
Max Verstappen will return to the track today, 17 October, for the GT World Challenge Europe season finale at Portimao. The four-time Formula 1 world champion will compete in a three-hour endurance race, with Verstappen Racing starting from 15th place following a disappointing qualifying performance on Friday.
Unlike Formula 1, the GT World Challenge Europe qualifying format uses the average of three drivers' fastest lap times to determine the starting grid.
Barnicoat took the wheel in Q1 but could only manage 21st place, finishing around six tenths behind the fastest driver, Morris Schuring. Lulham then completed Q2 in 16th position, leaving Verstappen with considerable ground to recover in the final qualifying segment. The Dutchman recorded a 1:42.665 in Q3, but his performance was not enough to move the team significantly up the combined classification.
The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale gets underway at 18:00 CEST (17:00 BST). The race will last three hours, meaning the chequered flag is expected at approximately 21:00 CEST (20:00 BST), assuming there are no significant interruptions. The race will begin in daylight before continuing into the evening, with the final stages taking place after sunset.